Outside Reading, Week 7, Post B

Okonkwo's fear of change finally caught up with him this week, but not in the way he (or I) would have liked. Instead, Okonkwo, constantly concerned about losing his reputation among his fellow clan members or fretting about how he is surrounded by cowards, failed to recognize the demands and feelings of the new generation that was now the base of the clan. The young people weren't concerned with "honor" and "social status" nearly as much as Okonkwo was and as a result, were much more accepting of the church and the white missionaries. They were not able to relate to the ideas of war with neighboring tribes over pride. Okonkwo, not seeing this, believed that if he killed the messenger from the District Commissioner, the whole clan would go to war with him against the white man it would be just like old times. However, the new generation believed in being rational and having peace talks before simply barging into war and causing dozens of unnecessary deaths.

While some may argue that this new generation is the superior one, preferring liberal and progressive ideas as opposed to the traditional ones of their fathers, there is certainly something to be said for Okonkwo's old regime mentality. Okonkwo's chivalrous nature has lead the clan through many tough times and acts as guidepost to help them stay true to their course. Now, with the infusion of the white missionaries into their society, they have lost many of their customs and traditions that make the clan unique and not just another group of humans. And so, in this way, Okonkwo's suicide was a very sad one indeed, as it represents not just the death of a great leader, but also the death of the tradition and the old generation.

Outside Reading, Week 7, Post A

This week, I found the conflict between Christianity and the religion of the tribe to be intriguing. "'You can stay with us if you like our ways. You can worship your own god. [...] This is the house of God and I will not live to see it desecrated.' [...] We cannot leave the matter in his hands because he does not understand our customs, just was we do not understand his. We say he is foolish because he does not know our ways" (191). In this excerpt, the new pastor at the church, Mr. Smith, tries to protect the church and Enoch, the religious offender who took asylum at the church, from the mob of religious elders, the egwugwu, who are trying to burn it down and kill Enoch. Eventually, they do find Enoch, kill him, and burn down the church, but this is reported to the District Commisioner, who sends out messengers to bring back the criminals. They are brought to the Commisioner, who holds them as prisoners until they can pay a large sum of money. In the meantime, they are whipped and preached to about the righeousness of God.

I found this to be sort of darkly ironic, as the religion of love, as Mr. Smith and Mr. Brown had been saying, was now torturing potential converts instead of trying to correct the situation rationally. This hypocrisy seems to present in most of the missionaries that Okonkwo encounters: they preach on being a good, peaceful Christian, but if someone goes against the church, they call in the militia to destroy the village, as was the case in Agabe. However, the religion of the tribe doesn't seem to be much better. They are equally as backwards and oppressive as the Christian missionaries and are eager to crush any dissenters at a moments notice, as was the case with Enoch. So, it seems that Chinua Achebe could be hinting at this theme that religion is the true evil among men and the only thing that seperates the fraternity.

Outside Reading, Week 6, Post B

Okonkwo-

Why do you fear change? Why are you so stubborn and stuck in your ways? Why do you continue to fail to realize what is going on around you? It seems like you are now purposely attempting to shut out the rest of the community from the old regime by simply labeling them as "heathens". Sure, maybe you seemed justified in rejecting your son simply because he was weak and failed to live up to your expectations, but surely half the population of your village is not weak? They are simply more eager to embrace change than you are, not corrupt or evil. So, why then, do you continue to denounce these new ideas and religions as pure heresy? It seems to me that if the population of dissenters starts to rival that of the "majority", then they are no longer dissenters, but simply a minority among the villagers. These things are all easily recognizable facts, yet for some reason, you have shrouded yourself in your protective bubble of denial, always reaching back to your past and claiming that we must beat the newcomers out of the village and maintain the status quo. Well, unfortunately for you, the status quo is changing and you must act now and adapt to the change or be left in the dust with your outdated social customs, technology, and government. You may be afraid of the change and fear the wrath of the gods, but remember what the missionaries were talking about when they moved into the evil forest: why are there simply arbitrary items or patches of land that are designated as holy or cursed? Think about that.

Outside Reading, Week 6, Post A

Probably the most frustrating aspect of Okonkwo's culture that I found was their persistence in enforcing their ridiculous and mostly oppressive social expectations and customs. Just one such example is their tradition of creating "osu" or social outcasts who are not able to shave or cut their hair and are forced to live by themselves, outside the village: "'You fear that you will die. Why should that be? How are you different from other men who shave their hair? THe same God created you and them. But they have cast you out like lepers. [...] They alos said I would die if I built my church on this ground. Am I dead?'" (157) This quote comes from the Christian missionary who visits their village, Mr. Kiaga. Kiaga, while also instilling his new Christian religious beliefs and values into the villagers, attempts to disprove many of their long held social rituals. While most of Kiaga's actions are generally beneficial and help to modernize the village, Okonkwo and many of the elders seem disgusted by this new wave that is sweeping over the village and turning their warriors into "those who are soft like women" (183). So, in this way, Kiaga is also corrupting the very foundations of the village hierarchy and government, which in the long run could completely destroy the village and ruin the sanctity that Okonkwo's generation has held so dear.

On the other hand, maybe it is time for these terrible customs to be done with. Some of them seem completely inhumane, such as their policy of killing all twins and keeping social outcasts completely isolated from the rest of their society. Also, a lot of their traditions are based purely on superstition, including their so-called "Evil Forest", where they bury all of those who died from disease so that they can rest with the evil spirits. This essentially only harms themselves, as they are restricting themselves from an otherwise perfectly viable plot of land.

Outside Reading, Week 5, Post B

In other books that I have read that take place in developing nations, whenever the natives are exposed to aspects of modern society, such as new technologies or people of different color skin, the author always address it in the cliché and childish way of describing how the natives react. Many simply create new phrases using words the natives already know, such as "iron bird" for airplane or "boom staff" for gun, while others always make the natives attribute the new elements to the gods or some sort of mystical force. Despite the fact that these are widely used and accepted, I have never felt that they are fully satisfying as a reader. It seems like real people wouldn't react in this way and it completely ruins any immersion that the novel had going for it. I am glad to say, however, that Things Fall Apart takes a new approach to this rather outdated concept by allowing the natives to describe things rationally.

While when the white men first arrive, Okonkwo and the other tribe members describe the bicycles as "iron horses", the author quickly escapes that oft-traveled rut and escapes into something more realistic. When the missionaries finally arrive at the town, Okonkwo doesn't describe them as "sand skinned" or some other ridiculous name like that, he simply calls them "white skinned", a very sound description. Also, when the missionaries start preaching to the villagers, he doesn't simply speak in English or attempt to communicate by pointing, he hires a translator from a nearby village, but who speaks in a different dialect, creating a bit of confusion. These seem like much more reasonable occurrences in this type of setting, again demonstrating why Things Fall Apart is set aside from the rest of the books of this genre.

Outside Reading, Week 5, Post A

While a system of law is present in almost every culture or society, the justice brought my Okonkwo's tribe seems to relatively rational. When Okonkwo is celebrating with the other warriors around the campfire to mourn the death of an elder, he accidentally kills a child when his gun explodes. Instead of simply assuming that Okonkwo purposely killed the child, the crime is analyzed with their system of law. There are "two kinds, male and female. Okonkwo had committed the female, because it had been inadvertent. He could return to the clan after seven years" (124). Consequently, Okonkwo is forced to leave the village and all of his possesions are burned, but he is allowed to return after living for seven years in his motherland. While some may see his punishment and claim that it is rather strict when compared to his crime, especially when you look at our legal system, we must remember the legal systems in other developing countries. In many, a man may have his hand chopped off for stealing or may be stoned to death for adultery. These seem like far lesser crimes than Okonkwo's, but with far greater punishments.

In the US legal system, Okonkwo's accident could be classified as "manslaughter" which could cost him 2-11 years in prison. This seems like a relatively equitable punishment to the punishment which he actually receives in the book. In this way, our cultures are similar, but in the way the verdict is decided is much different. In the US legal system, Okonkwo would be assessed by a jury of his peers, where as in Things Fall Apart, the council of elders has ultimate say on any accident or crime. In this way, Okonkwo's sentencing may be unjust, in that he has no say in his case and the people of village are not the ones judging him, only the all mysterious elders, who have no authority to answer to.

Outside Reading, Week 4, Post B

One aspect of Things Fall Apart that I really don't understand is the whole theocracy rule of the village. For some reason, the prophetess or priestess is able to control all the villagers and demand whatever she wants whenever she wants. For example, in this last section, the prophetess Chielo came to Okonkwo's compound in the middle of the night demanding his youngest daughter. So, Okonkwo just hands her over to her. WHY? Why would you simply trust someone just because they claim to have a connection to God? What makes you so sure that they aren't just completely making things up or just suffering from the effects of narcotics, as prophetesses often do. It seems that the people of Okonkwo's community are being unjustly exploited out of their hard labor and toil by some faux-goddess who has an unconfirmed and most likely false "connection with God".

Of course, it could just be that they are reluctant to challenge anything because that's the way they were raised and it is unheard of to question the prophetess. Okonkwo could honestly be afraid of God's wrath and believe that the only way to appease him is to obey everything that his messenger Chielo says. However, he seems pretty sharp to me and may only be following her orders in order to maintain peace and stability and not upset the other villagers. In doing this, Okonkwo is able to keep his current lifestyle and not be kicked out for disrupting the status quo.

Outside Reading, Week 4, Post A

Another interesting difference that I found between Okonkwo's culture and our culture is the tradition of explaining natural phenomenons with folk tales. Ekwefi and Enzima share stories with each other that while entertaining, also provide the origins of certain aspects of nature, such as why the tortoise shell is not smooth. Instead of using empirical reasoning or the scientific method, they make assumptions based on observation or mythology, which, while entertaining, exists more for the purpose of being a cultural staple than a logic explanation. Also, folk stories allow Ekwefi and Enzima to bond after dark, when "low voices reached Okonkwo's from his wives' huts as each woman and her children told folk stories" (96). While the American culture does have some weak parallels to this, such as nursery rhymes or folklore, a majority of the populous realizes that the stories are only meant for entertainment and nothing more. We, instead, believe in approaching things rationally and conducting experiments, providing reasonable and sound answers to questions.

However, despite the fact that the American answers are more factual, it's difficult to say whether or not it is better than the tribal method of folktelling. Sure, if you really need to know how a toroise shell is formed or how spiders got eight legs, it might be worth knowing the actual origin, but for the people of Africa, it probably isn't a necessity in their lives and an entertaining tale may be more valuable. The folk stories certainly enrich their culture and provide somewhat- universal truths to their children, giving families and communities a chance to bond and share a common heritage.